The Great Debate
by CelticDragonLadyWarrior
Summary: The Marauders decide to exploit a loophole, and McGonagall is so done with their antics.


The Marauders had been planning for months, trying to decide what their next great prank would be. They had tried time and again to come up with something new and interesting, but nothing was working. They kept returning back to their usual pranks, and it was incredibly frustrating. Sirius sighed in annoyance and said "Oh come on! There has to be something we can do! Is there a rule we can exploit? Some sort of loophole?" The Marauders grew silent and tried to think. There were plenty of rules that they broke rather frequently, but those rules did not have any loopholes. Somewhere during their pondering, they heard the Prefects call out curfew. As one, the four turned to face each other and said "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sirius spoke up and said "Of course! Curfew has a loophole! It says students can't be out of bed, right? Well what if we moved our beds?" James chimed in "Of course! All we have to do is levitate our beds around the corridors! Then we're not breaking any rules! Not technically anyway!" Peter laughed at this idea, giddy at the thought of pulling off some great loophole. Remus was slightly hesitant. "Technically it is still within the bounds, we are technically following the rules… But we'd have to be careful! If we lose focus we could find ourselves crashing down the stairs or something!" He was the one to always worry for the group's safety. Sirius laughed and said "Relax Moony! We won't get hurt! We might get in trouble if we get caught and can't argue our way out of it, but we are not going to get hurt!" Remus shook his head and slightly begrudgingly agreed to go along with this plan. After all, someone had to make sure the group stayed intact. Their decisions made, the four settled onto their beds and readied their wands. In unison, they cast and laughed as the beds began to rise off the ground. James opened the door, and the four tried to navigate the winding stairs of the Gryffindor Dorms. The Prefects in the Common Room, preparing for their first patrol of the night, heard crashing and muffled shouts of "No left! Your other left!" and "Watch it! You don't want to destroy the castle!" followed shortly by a "Hurry up! At this rate we won't reach the corridor till morning!" The pair looked at each other, utterly confused, when a bed finally jolted free from the staircase. On the bed was James Potter, grinning like a maniac as his bed flew towards the open Portrait Hole. He was followed swiftly by Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius and Peter were laughing while Remus gave the startled students an apology.

Once out in the corridor, James proposed a race. Sirius was quick to accept, while Peter and Remus just sort of shrugged as they got pulled along. They swiftly set off down the corridor, dodging each other and laughing as the portraits shouted at them. The quartet rounded a corner and slid to a halt. They had nearly crashed into a very angry looking Professor McGonagall, who had begun her own rounds just a moment ago. "What in Merlin's name are you four up to?! It's past curfew and you are running amok in the halls!" James spoke up. "But Professor McGonagall, we're actually following the rules for once! The rule states that no students are allowed out of bed past curfew, and we are clearly still in bed." Sirius chimed in saying "Yeah! As you can see, we haven't set a foot out of bed since curfew, so no problems here!" Peter slightly hid behind James, while Remus mouthed an apology from his place behind Sirius. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, you are clearly disobeying the rules. Now head back to your dorm, place your beds back where they belong, and do so in a timely manner before you wind up with detention." Professor McGonagall said, gently massaging her temple. She had been dealing with these boys' antics for years now. She was tired of having to constantly deduct points and, since they were technically correct about the letter of the rule, she just wanted to see them out of her sight and back in the dorm before they managed to cause any damage. She was their professor, yes, and their Head of House, but to her the students of Gryffindor were her children. Even if they did constantly cause trouble, she could not help but care for each one of them. All she wanted was for their happiness. But first, she needed to get them under control before they did something that could warrant more than a warning as punishment. "But we aren't actually breaking the rules. See? We are still in bed. It's after curfew and we are in bed just like the rule states." James said, smirking at his own cleverness. Sirius quickly chimed in, "So technically we aren't actually breaking the rule, only bending it a little!" Professor McGonagall sighed and said "That may be so, but you are still out after curfew. Technicality or not you are actually breaking the rules. If you do not leave my sight quickly I will deduct points and send all four of you to different detentions." Remus, who had been sick of getting dragged to detention, shook Sirius' shoulder and said "Come on guys. You proved your point, we've had our fun. Let's just go back. Chalk this up as a win, yeah?" James and Sirius stubbornly stared down Professor McGonagall, clearly intent on having their fun for a while longer. Professor McGonagall sighed, it was clear she had no chance of getting through to them on this technicality. She said "Lucky for you, I have to check the room here for students out past curfew. If I see you when I return, you will find yourself drowning in detentions." She entered the room she had indicated and listened casually to their conversation through the door. Remus spoke up first. "Come on guys, let's go back. No use staying out in the halls. We could get caught by Filch!" "Yeah! I really don't want to end up in a detention with Filch!" Peter mumbled, voice shaking. Sirius sighed and said "Yeah, I suppose this fun has run its course. Might as well leave now. Besides, we could always try this again over the Holidays! Fewer people to run into then!" James chimed in, saying "Perfect! We could really have some fun with the empty corridors!" With that decided, the beds zoomed off towards Gryffindor Tower. Professor McGonagall shook her head at their antics. They were such a pain at times, but she loved them nonetheless.


End file.
